March 8, 2011 is International Women's Day.
On Thursday March 3, i posted the second annual report about women's right in Saudi Arabia here which was gloomy, the least to say.
Here are some of it's highlight:-
1- Saudi Arabia still applying " The guardian law" on adult women. This law prevents women from getting marriage, work,travel,..etc without the agreement of a male guardian from her family even if he was younger and less educated. In lots of cases, sons become the guardian of their mothers.
2- Forced marriage is still wide spread in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And different kind of marriages have emerged recently with different names which strips women from the basic rights such as alimony . Some statistics have shown that "Misyar" marriage was the number one reason for divorce in some cities of the country.
3-Adult women are still being prevented from getting marriage by the fathers . In one particular case , a forty year old doctor and her sisters are prevented from marriage till now because of the constant refusal of her father and when she filed a suit against him , she was accused by the court of rebelling against her father.
Some of the reasons why some fathers refuse to allow their daughters to marry are :-
A- the fathers wants to have his daughter's salary.
B- the suitor is from a different tribe.
4- Lots of women can not get divorce in what known as " Kul' " because the intransigence of the husband, in one case a woman waited 12 years to get divorced.
5- About a million and half of the Saudi women are not married yet not by a choice but due to different reasons such as male guardians keeping their daughter single, poverty, separation between men and women, tribal and sectarian intolerance and the social statue.
6-Domestic Violence is spreading . There is no law that prevent and punished those who commit violence against women. Most women afraid to report such cases for the fear of divorce and shame.
In some cases violence against women are spreading outside the home where the husbands are attacking their wives in malls and can not be stopped by anyone.
7- Wives an husbands can be separated for not being from equal tribes. sometimes the cousins can file a law suit to separate their female cousins from their husbands for this reasons and even win it.
8- Lack of work opportunities and limited kind of works stop thousands of women from having the mean to a good life. Businesswoman can not work freely without a "legal guardian" .
Laws against women :-
1- Women still can not register her new born baby. Women can not register the death of a relative.
2- Despite working for the same ministry, women's salary is still low by thousands to their male counterparts in the Ministry of Education.
3-Women who apply to study abroad on the expenses of the Ministry of Higher Education can not be granted that unless proving the acceptance and the presence of a male guardian to go with them.
4- Women can not go under surgery without the approval of a male guardian.
5- The Ministry of Labor have not applied resolution 122 which allows women to work in the malls and public places due to the huge influence of religious scholars and some businessmen.
6- In some cases at courts, women weren't allowed to attend cases which they are part in.
Despite all these gloomy facts, women in Saudi Arabia now are stronger and don't shy to raise their voices to ask for their God giving rights .
Let's just hope that sometime soon they will get it, cuz some are on stake here.
Hala Aldosari , a blogger and a writer, have established a site called " مدونه حقوق المرأة السعودية " " Saudi Women's Rights" which shed lights on women rights in Saudi Arabia. Be sure to visit it, it's full of useful information.
Useful links :
اتمنى ان تحصل المراه السعوديه على كافة حقوقها
BalasHapusمما قراته لا يزال ينفصها الكثير مقارنه بوضع المرأه في الدول العربيه فما بالك بالدول الغربيه
كل عام وانتن بخير رفيقاتي
كل عام وانتي بخير وفاء الغاليه
to be honest , i think saudi is really big unfair towards women :(
BalasHapusi dont see freedom here n women seem unable to make their choices. omg!!!
Silla
I just knew u r gonna post smthn gr8 today :), jad :)
BalasHapusSaudi women are in my heart and prayers today. Thanks for the heads up.
BalasHapusThank you for the great information dear!
BalasHapusI keep telling myself that I shouldn't take things for granted.And the into in your post is one such reason.As you said,Saudi women are brave and one of these days they are going to make history,a history women will be proud of.
BalasHapusI remember a time when muslim women here were outraged when the age limit for singlewomen to attend haj was raised to 45.It was as if only a 45 yr old woman was considered independent and free for travel.To men who lay such rules,a beauty of a woman is turned into a curse for them.Always ready to pick out the faults than goodness in women and relations between sexes.I hope for change and it'll be good if it can happen soon.
naysan,
BalasHapusالمرأة السعودية لم تحصل على شيء مقارنه بشقيقاتها في الدول العربية و دول العالم الاخرى و في كل عام نتمنى ان يحصل شيء كبير و لكن لا حياة لمن تنادي
و كل عام و انتي اروع و اجمل عزيزتي
:)
Farislla,
BalasHapusVery unfair, but let's hope for the best that will come soon :)
Haitham,
BalasHapusThanks bro for your kind words :)
Angelle,
BalasHapusYou are welcome dear and thanks for your prayers :)
Becky,
BalasHapusyou are welcome sweetie :)
Lat,
BalasHapusthings can change in seconds that's why we should appreciate what we have and fight for it.
Change will happen, but when is the question, and it shouldn't take long.
يمكن المجتمع السعودي يحس على نفسه شوي ويعترف بقوة المرأه السعودية
BalasHapusلا اريد اعتبار ذا الشي مجرد حلم ... يوجد امل وان شاء الله امل قريب ليس ببعيد
تعيش المرأه السعودية تعيش تعيش تعيش :D
Happy woman's Day for all women ^_^
Visible,
BalasHapusلن يعترف باي قيمه لها خارج منزلها, هذا هو مجتمعنا. نحتاج لقرارت سياسيه لاعطاء المرأة حقوقها و هذا مالن يحدث ايضا
:(
Long Live Saudi Women :)